Naotaka Nishiyama has no intention of seeking solace. He only had a bag and an idea as he took a journey from Tokyo to Bengaluru on March 25, 2024.
By March 26, he was a founder resolved to create something new on uncharted territory—when he entered the pre-dawn hive of India’s IT capital.
A year later, Nishiyama, the CEO and founder of Talendy in Japan, considers what it was like to plunge into and remain in India’s turbulence, ambition, and unpredictability. There was more to what he found than business. It was about letting go of perfection, learning from hustle, and reestablishing intuition.
Nishiyama posts on LinkedIn, “I arrived in India exactly a year ago with just a suitcase — and a dream.”
On March 26, 2024, he landed in Bangalore after departing Tokyo on March 25. “I entered a whole new world as soon as I finished dragging my suitcase out of the airport.”
As the founder of a Japanese firm in India, Nishiyama claims that both Japanese and Indians continue to stare at him with amazement. The majority of Japanese residents in India are corporate expats from the banking, electronics, or automotive sectors, he says, adding that there aren’t many Japanese in the country in the first place.
During first meetings, presumptions are common. “Suzuki?” “Toyota?” people ask. His smile says, “No, I own a business called Talendy.” In most cases, curiosity—or encouragement—follows.
“My confidence and dedication kept getting a little stronger every time someone said, ‘That’s interesting!’ or ‘Why India?'”
India ended up being his teacher for the year. He underlines three fundamental lessons:
Progress is hampered by perfection.
No matter how complicated things get, people here seem to keep going.
Here, plans rarely work out, and that’s okay.
He’s come to embrace uncertainty and improvise.
Collaborating with individuals from diverse cultures, languages, and religions to achieve common objectives has significantly broadened my perspective.
“This year, something has definitely changed inside of me,” he writes. I’ve learned to “create value within change” as opposed to “challenging myself within stability.”
He ends in a humble manner. I’m still learning, of course. However, the people I’ve encountered in India, particularly the remarkable vigor and aspirations of the younger generation, inspire me to keep going because I think we can shape the future together.